A lot has happened in the world since my last article. Please bear with me as there is much to talk about. First, my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Ukraine, and for that matter the innocent people in Russia who want nothing to do with Putin’s war. The world order is […]
The war in Eastern Europe is hitting close to home for some steel buyers. Steel Market Update’s survey this week asked readers: How might the Russian invasion of Ukraine impact your business? Roughly three out of four of the service center and manufacturing executives who responded said they fear at least some fallout from the […]
The fog of war. That’s what we’re all dealing with now. Even in steel as realization grows that the war in Ukraine will have consequences here in North America too. The exact contours are still uncertain. We know that pig iron prices are up sharply, and that concerns about shortages are mounting – not just […]
California Steel Industries, Nucor and USS-UPI notified customers of an upward revision to their galvanized steel coating extras earlier this week. Prior to this change, many mills had revised their galvanized coating extras in late-2021, with new prices going into effect in January 2022. Although the reason for these updated extras was not specifically mentioned by […]
Join us in Memphis, Tenn., for the next LIVE Steel 101 workshop on April 19-20, 2022. We are pleased to offer our first in-person course since the pandemic and will include an in-person tour of Nucor Steel Arkansas. Steel Market Update’s Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop has been helping businesses empower their employees (from […]
U.S. Steel Corp. is investing $60 million at Gary Works to give the Indiana mill the capability to produce up to 500,000 tons of pig iron annually and provide a critical raw material for the steelmaker’s electric arc furnaces. Once complete in the first half of 2023, pig iron production at Gary will provide nearly […]
If you look at Steel Market Update’s headlines from the past week, it’s not difficult to see a common thread. There’s change in the wind. Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor both announced $50-per-ton increases in sheet prices. Scrap experts forecast substantial jumps in both prime and obsolete scrap prices in March. Prices for other steelmaking raw materials […]
Nucor has joined Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in increasing base prices for steel sheet by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The move is effective with all new orders, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Friday, Feb. 25. “We reserve the right to review and re-quote any offers that are […]
You don’t need SMU pontificating about how the Russia-Ukraine conflict marks the end of the post-WWII order. Suffice it to say the world we woke up to today is vastly different from the one we reported on in our last edition. We’re also getting used to thinking about things we haven’t had to think about […]
Some North American flat-rolled steelmakers were silent when asked what the impact of the conflict between the U.S. and Russia might be on their operations. Others said their supply lines weren’t in the crossfire. One reason for the silence in some corners: Many rely heavily either on Russian slab or Russian or Ukrainian pig iron […]
JSW Steel (USA) and JSW Ohio’s lawsuit claiming Nucor, U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs conspired to stifle competition by denying semifinished steel slab to the company has been dismissed. The lawsuit, filed on June 8, 2021, in federal court in Houson, alleged that three of the largest American steelmakers formed a cartel and conspired to cause […]
Eddie Lehner, president and CEO of Ryerson Holding Corp., has been named to the service center’s board of directors, expanding the board from seven to eight members. “Eddie has been a tremendous leader and his accomplishments as president and CEO have been transformative for Ryerson,” said Jacob Kotzubei, a member of Ryerson’s board. “He brings […]
Jim Frias, Nucor’s long-time Chief Financial Officer, will retire on June 11. Steve Laxton, Nucor’s Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning, has been named to succeed him. The two will work together for the next few months on a seamless transition of the CFO responsibilities. Frias joined Nucor in 1991 as controller of Nucor Building Systems-Indiana. […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. might shut a blast furnace this year, the company’s top executive said. “When we make a move, we make a move. … You might see a blast furnace going down for good still in 2022,” Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during a fireside chat at the Tampa Steel Conference this […]
Industry analyst Paul Lowrey is “bullish on the short-term outlook for steel,” but his goal as a presenter during the Tampa Steel Conference this week was “to get some of you to think differently about what is going on.” Lowrey, founder of Pittsburgh-based Steel Research Associates, is a contrarian when it comes to the common […]
Service centers are the Dangerfields of steel—they just don’t get no respect. Sure, nobody likes to pay the middleman, especially when prices are plunging and margins are getting squeezed. But let’s face it, the supply chain wouldn’t work without them, especially today. Nine out of 10 service centers report they are lowering prices to their customers, […]
Steel prices may be nearing the end of the current correction, predicted Majestic Steel USA President and CEO Todd Leebow during Wednesday’s Steel Market Update Community Chat. In the great debate over where declining hot rolled prices will finally settle – back to historical averages in the $400-600 per ton range or closer to $1,000 […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Nucor and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) chose to acquire major metal recycling companies just before the Global Financial Crisis. SDI purchased Omnisource for slightly more than $1 billion in November 2007. Nucor followed suit with its $1.4 billion takeover of The David J. Joseph Co. in March 2008. The […]
Nucor has closed its $400 million deal for a majority stake in California Steel Industries (CSI). “We are excited to officially welcome our CSI teammates to the broader Nucor family,” said Rex Query, Nucor’s Executive Vice President of Sheet and Tubular Products. “This joint venture gives us a strong presence in the Western region and grows our ability to produce […]
Majestic Steel USA Inc. has hired Sean Madigan as Vice President of Sales, Manufacturing. Madigan joins Majestic from Nucor, where he served as the Sales and Marketing Manager for Nucor Steel Arkansas. Madigan’s experience with Nucor was integral to the startup of the company’s new coating line, and he will continue to be a critical part of the […]
Nucor Corp. today announced plans to invest $290 million to upgrade its Crawfordsville, Ind., steel sheet mill. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker will expand the mill’s product capabilities by adding a 300,000 tons per year (tpy) construction-grade continuous galvanizing line and a 250,000 tpy prepaint line, the company said. The project, which company executives alluded to during […]
When I was a kid, watching the Olympics was a big feel-good event. The family would all gather round the TV eating popcorn and rooting for the Americans as they competed against the world’s best athletes for a medal and their photo on a Wheaties box. There was something pure and uplifting about the whole […]
U.S. Steel joined competitors Nucor Corp. and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) in posting record annual profits. But the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s fourth-quarter net earnings were significantly lower than those in the third quarter. U.S. Steel recorded net earnings of $1.07 billion in the final quarter of 2021, down 46.5% from $2.00 billion in the third quarter […]
I don’t want to lead prices down, but I don’t think it’s any secret at this point that sheet prices are falling fast. “The prophecies have been borne out,” is how one mill executive put it. What does that look like in practical terms? Some mills are offering hot-rolled coil at about $1,200 per ton […]
Nucor Corp. crushed annual profit records in 2021 and posted yet another quarterly profit record in the fourth quarter. The trend continues a 2021 pattern among domestic steelmakers of each quarter setting a record compared to that set in the prior quarter. All told, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted an annual profit of $6.83 billion […]
Calling 2021 “the safest and most profitable year in the company’s history,” Nucor executives sounded “a consistent drumbeat on demand” in their outlook for 2022 during their fourth-quarter conference call with analysts and investors today. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted record earnings of $6.83 billion in 2021 on sales of $36.5 billion. Sixteen of its […]
Nucor Corp. crushed annual profit records in 2021 and posted yet another quarterly profit record in the fourth quarter. The trend continues a 2021 pattern among domestic steelmakers of each quarter setting a record compared to that set in the prior quarter. All told, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted an annual profit of $6.83 billion […]
Nucor Corp. has announced that plate prices are unchanged for the second month in a row. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker announced the “$0/per ton change” with the opening of its March order book for plate. The result: Nucor’s base price for cut-to-length A36 plate remains at $1,815 per ton ($90.75/cwt) ex works. The company’s price […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) expects that its new electric-arc furnace sheet mill in Sinton, Texas, will reach a run rate close to its rated capacity in the second half of the year, the company’s top executive said. “We are anticipating the final piece of the jigsaw to be put in place here in the next […]
NLMK USA sales slipped in the fourth quarter on expectations of lower steel prices driving buyers to the sidelines. It was not only lower consumer activity that pushed NLMK USA sales volumes and prices lower, so too did the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) agreement with the European Union – which is expected to result in additional […]